Some primary objectives of conventional retail stores are to provide consumers or customers with the items they need and to do so efficiently so as to maximize sales. One of the leading causes of lost sales is a lack of product availability, such as out of stock product (either missing from shelf and in a back room or missing entirely from that particular store), moved product and/or misplaced product. In order to address this issue, many retail stores utilize complex inventory management software programs and employ many store associates to keep track of product inventory and ensure that such inventory is on hand and in stock when needed.
Many of these systems, however, require user input such as product scanning and rely on store associates to be able to quickly and efficiently locate product inventory in a backroom or elsewhere so that it can be stocked and re-stocked on the store shelves as quickly and efficiently as possible. Errors that occur within the inventory management system are typically due to user input errors. For example, incorrect scans or failure to take necessary scans can cause the system to slow down and not work as quickly and efficiently as desired. In larger stores that rely heavily on the efficiency of such inventory management systems, any delay due to inefficiencies or errors can be compounded and have trickle down effects throughout the system as a whole. For example, delay in being able to restock one product due to inefficiencies, typically leads to delay in the store associate's ability to handle restocking requests for other products and so on, and ultimately may lead to an unenjoyable shopping experience for customers because either the desired product they want is not stocked on the shelf or they are required to ask for assistance to locate the missing item. In addition, such inefficiencies prevent store associates from being able to offer general assistance to store customers or consumers and, thus, can negatively impact the shopping experience for several individuals.
Accordingly, it has been determined that a need exists for improved systems, apparatus and methods for managing stores to overcome the above-mentioned problems.
Elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale or to include all features, options or attachments. For example, the dimensions and/or relative positioning of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present invention. Certain actions and/or steps may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required. The terms and expressions used herein have the ordinary technical meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressions by persons skilled in the technical field as set forth above except where different specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein.